Mister Landscaper Tips: Cooking Oil

Every once in a while here at Mister Landscaper, an idea comes along that is so simple, it begs the question: Why didn't we think of it before now?

But no matter. Often these little epiphanous moments yield extremely useful tidbits. Take for instance: Cooking oil.

Now, while we certainly did not invent cooking oil, we did discover one of its many uses: Installing a Mister Landscaper system.

It came to our attention not too long ago that certain individuals were having difficulty pushing the 1/2" Poly Tubing onto the 1/2" Poly Fittings (There's a built-in O-ring on the fittings that does provide a bit of resistance). Since we couldn't get rid of the O-ring (it secures the seal), we racked our brains for another solution. That's when it happened. We discovered the nine hundred and seventy-third use for cooking oil.

Here's what you do: After cutting the 1/2" Poly Tubing to length, and before connecting any 1/2" Poly Fitting, apply a bit of cooking oil (olive, vegetable, canola) to the inside of the tubing just at the end. Then push the 1/2" Poly onto the 1/2" Fitting and over the built-in O-ring. Tighten the locking collar as usual. That's it! It's like butta!

And we won't get into the science of it here, but just that little bit of oil creates enough separation between the parts that installation becomes significantly easier. Simple, huh? But it works.